Peter Reid was proud to play his ‘small part’ in Plymouth Argyle history at a time where everybody had to pull together in order to keep the club alive.

The administration months of the Pilgrims' history is well documented and it was Reid who was tasked with the job of trying to keep the side in League One when everything was falling apart away from the pitch.

Reid was sold a dream that never came to fruition back when he was appointed in June 2010, with talks of a brand new stadium under the regime of Sir Roy Gardener.

In his new autobiography, Cheer Up Peter Reid, the 61-year-old looks back at the highs and lows of his career and describes it as a football book with plenty of social awareness.

Reid’s time with the Pilgrims is heavily featured in chapter 16 of the book, Crisis Clubs.

In it he talks about how good things seemed to be on the surface when he first arrived at Home Park, but it didn’t take long for him to realise all was not well.

“I met Sir Roy Gardner, who had been a director of Man United before investing in Plymouth, and he outlined his vision for the club which included plans to build a new stadium as part of England’s 2018 World Cup bid,” the book reads.

“On the surface it seemed exciting but the reality was different. My fears, that all was not as it seemed, grew just a few days after taking charge.

“I tried to use the club credit card to book a flight to the south coast from Manchester and it was declined.

“During pre-season I had to accept pretty much any offer that came in for our players, but it paled into insignificance in comparison to what followed in March 2011 when the club went into administration, with debts of £13m.

“Suddenly there were winding up orders and the future of the club was in doubt.”

The financial side of administration was clear for all to see, with media outlets including the Herald documenting the troubles as they unfolded.

It was the human struggle, a struggle that could not be understood by simply reading words in a newspaper, that really stood in the mind of Reid.

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It wasn’t just footballers that were going without pay, office staff were losing their jobs and the individual financial implications continued to grow.

Speaking about his book to Herald Sport, Reid said it was that feeling of unity between the staff and fans that came shooting back into the former England international’s head when he got to writing about the Argyle stage of his managerial career.

“I was at Argyle when the administrator came in and sacked people who had mortgages and whose lives were devastated,” Reid said.

“There are human parts as well as the football parts.

Former Plymouth Argyle manager Peter Reid has released his autobiography (Image: Tony Woolliscroft)

“It is out there when people are in tears after losing their jobs and don’t know how they are going to pay their mortgage.

“Football clubs or businesses that run and then they fold, it is the human cost as well as the financial that comes to everyone.

“It was not easy recalling but it was a necessity because that is the way it was.

“I have played in big football matches, I have won things, but when you talk about the human element, a life, football pales into insignificance.”

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Two acts Reid is perhaps most remembered for by Argyle fans, are his decision to sell one of his FA Cup medals and to pay a heating bill when staff were having to wear coats to stay warm in the offices.

To Reid, these things were a no-brainer which is a testament to his character and in a world where football isn’t always painted in the best light, stories like these should not be forgotten.

Asked about that time, Reid said: “I walked into the Portakabin at the time and everyone had coats on.

The Green Army (Image: Dave Rowntree/PPAUK)

“I asked what was going on and they said that the oil had run out, I think it was.

“So I got my credit card out and made a payment and we were having a function where I put one of my FA Cup losers’ medals up.

“It wasn’t difficult because there are more important things out there and people are important and football clubs are important because they are part of the community.

“Everybody rallied together, the Green Army’s support was absolutely amazing.

“I’ll tell you what it did, I mean it was a sad occasion for the club to go into administration, but it showed you what the club means to people in the community.

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“And I know that if you have that support clubs like Plymouth Argyle will never die.

“I think you learn that football clubs, even when you get up there in the Premiership with the money that is out there and having different owners, if you haven’t got the ordinary working class person coming through those turnstiles and supporting the clubs, football clubs wouldn’t exist.

“Even though I had a difficult time at Argyle, I tell you what, it was a fantastic club and I am glad I went down there.

“The pleasing thing for me is that the club kept going, you know what it means to the community down there. It is one of them traditionally massive football clubs.”